About the Industry

The Road Transport Industry operates about 22,500 trucks and directly employs 24,500 people (about 3% of the fulltime workforce).
The industry carries approx 90% of New Zealand’s total land based freight and this drives the economy – studies show that as a general rule, a 1.4% increase in road transport is required to support a 1% rise in economic growth.

Making Roads Safer…Heavy trucks have made huge improvements in their road safety performance over the last 15 years. The number of fatal accidents involving trucks has more than halved from 107 in 1995 to 51 in 2009. These reductions were achieved despite significant increases in the number of trucks and the distances they travel.